Show us your nest boxes! Ingenous design post it here!

[andycowboy]

Wow...so many great ideas! For my coop, I found a childcare center closing, and bought a book depository cabinet - don't know what else to call it. They had 2 - I wasn't aware of chicken math then! Here's what it looked like as I got started:

The book holes are 12" x 12" x 12" - perfect for nesting! I added some 1" x 3" boards across the front of each row to hold in the hay. The bottom I thought I'd use for storage - but that changed during the completion process....​

Here they are with hay and a couple of ceramic eggs - the girls are still too young to lay, but trying to be ready - should be laying about the 3rd or 4th week of July (6 of them) - then there will be a second wave the end of August (added 7 more)...oops!

The coop, except for some minor construction issues, was completed Thursday...and I had to board up the boxes a couple of weeks ago - they were becoming play areas!

Now I'm looking for ideas - since I bought only one of these things, and can't seem to find another one anywhere (have no idea what they're actually called) because I made the bottom storage area into a brooder...then my flock increased to 29! The new ones just got here, so I have 3-4 weeks to get a home built for them - or somehow add a bunch of space to what I have! They're all Buckeyes, going to keep them segregated and try raising them...they're so hard to find! So thanks to everyone for sharing their ideas!

Have a great weekend, and God bless!
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[guesswhatchickenbutt]

We removed a window and hung ours in the window frame. It has a human access door on the outside, and hinged doors on the inside:

Here's the view from outside the coop. The little red barn is the nest box. The door opens to collect the eggs:

WOW!!!!!!!!! This is absolutely gorgeous!!!

And seriously some creative people on this threat Love the nest boxes!

 

[crittercrazy13]

Nice idea, thanks for sharing

 

[7 Biddies]

 

[7 Biddies]

I made my nest boxes from some drawers salvaged from 2 old filing cabinets I was getting rid of. The hinged lid was made of leftover OSB. The roosting bar in the front for access to the boxes has since been redone to stick out further. We were afraid the girls might have too much trouble getting on them as is.

 

[andycowboy]

Dang! I passed up a craigslist posting about a wooden file cabinet real cheap! Great idea! Have to go back and see if I can find it...

 

[ScottM]

Nice thread

 

[missj]

Below is a picture of the nest boxes I "installed" yesterday after getting many great ideas from this thread!!

Found the baskets in a junk pile on our property- we got them for free at a garage sale a few years back and my husband WAS going to put them up in his workshop, but never got around to it...






They are kind of rusty and junky looking, but they kind of blend in perfectly with our rusty old whitetrash volkswagen bus chicken tractor!

 

[shelbear81]

We removed a window and hung ours in the window frame. It has a human access door on the outside, and hinged doors on the inside:

Here's the view from outside the coop. The little red barn is the nest box. The door opens to collect the eggs:

LOVE LOVE LOVE your coop!! I want mine to look like this when I am done with it, but I don't know if I am talented enough!! Did you buy or build?? LOVE IT!!

 

[bJason]

These are all fantastic! Too many ideas to file away. Hurray for subscribing!